Post Rojak-A Taste of Malaysia!

"Rojak- A Taste of Malaysia" was a huge success this year. Even though it was held during the Easter weekend, we sold out all our tickets a week prior to the event, thanks to the publicity generated. All in all, we had approximately 370 people turn up for the event and this time around, more than half of the audience were comprised of Americans, as this night was supposed to promote the Malaysian way of life and culture to them.

VIPs such as the President of Drake University, David Maxwell, Dave Miles (Chair of the Board of Regents for the State of Iowa), Jim Hubbell (Chair of the Board of Trustees for Drake University), Mark Heppner (Executive Director of the Salisbury House), Rick Neumann (Nyemaster Goode attorney), Linda Grandquist (Prairie Meadows Grant Advisory Committee member) and Barbara Gartner (Des Moines Art Center Board of Trustees) showed up, besides host families and the Des Moines community.

We had a different theme and layout this year round, utilizing a skit to tie in various performances which portray different festivities held in Malaysia all year long and the word "Rojak" which literally means a fusion of things suited this very theme. We added a touch of Jumanji into it, where 2 foreigners(Americans) were caught in this crazy adventure by playing the board game and experienced Malaysia through it. There was a ton of visual effects and videos which complimented the skit.

We managed to get a couple of American people involved in the dances and skit and that helped with publicity as well. The Malaysian Students' Department of Chicago (MSD) and the Campus Fellowship of Drake University allowed this event to be as great as it was as we used their resources and manpower to make things work. Below are some of the pictures taken which unfold the story of "Rojak-A Taste of Malaysia":

This Was Pre-MASA Night. We Had Our Discussion and Meeting Before the Night During the Rehearsal

Arrival of the VIPs, Accompanied by the "Kompangs", Which are Traditional Malay Drums
The Organizing Chairperson of Rojak, Becky Hiu Giving Her Speech

President David Maxwell Giving his Spontaneous Speech

Our Very First Performance of the Night - A Duet by Shing Yiing Ong and Gary Shia, Accompanied by the Prodigal Pianist, Ian Wong -Mixture of "Melodi" and "Belaian Jiwa"

A Solo Guitar Performance by Havard Chan - a Rendition of "Rasa Sayang"

First Round of Raffle Draws with the MCs, Siva and Amy

Hannah Chung and Jason Rude, the Americans from Campus Fellowship, Who Were the Main Actors of the Skit

Jeremy Low -Wushu

Malay Dance Crew -Fusion of Traditional and Modern Steps

Thaipusam -Kavadi Carrier, Dhaya

The Mooncake Festival - the History

The Lion Dance from ISU

The Indian Dance Crew - Modern and Simply Awesome!

The Climatic Moment -Confrontation with the Tribal People

Overall, this night was a huge success all thanks to the people involved -the committee members and the performers.

This would most likely be the very last post for this blog. Sad. :(

Malaysia Boleh,
Rojak Team '09

We are officially SOLD OUT!

There aren't anymore tickets left for "Rojak-A Taste of Malaysia"!
We are really sorry for any inconveniences experienced.

Maaf Zahir Batin,
Rojak Team '09

Eye Candy!

Hey everyone,

It's already nearing the end of March, and I hope you've already bought your ticket to the upcoming Malaysian Night! If you haven't, do drop by at our booth, which will continue to be at the Olmsted Breezeway from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.

If you're still uncertain about coming, maybe this will aid with your decision-making:

What's that? A chance to win an Olympus FE-20 Super Slim Digital Point & Shoot Camera, 8 MP, 3x Optical, 4x Digital Zoom with a 2.5" LCD Screen in silver.

And that's not all! Feast your eyes on our main lucky-draw prize:

Yes, folks; it's an Apple iPod Nano (4th Gen) 8GB in silver!

Aside from these sassy gadgets we're proudly presenting on RojakDrake.blogspot.com, we also have a multitude of other lucky-draw prizes up for grabs, so don't miss it!

As always, we promise that it will be a night to remember :)

Salam sejahtera,
Sponsorship Team, Rojak '09

Tickets are On Sale!

Hey peeps!

Tickets go on sale starting today (23rd March 2009) until the event date. The prices are as follows:

Drake students/professors: $10.00
Non-Drake students (host families, other universities' students etc.): $12.00
At the door (the night itself): $15.00

Questions? E-mail Becky Hiu at beckyhiu@gmail.com.

Salam Sejahtera,
Rojak Team '09

Rojak - A Taste of Malaysia

Hello peeps!

I am proud to announce that the Malaysian Students' Association (MASA) Night Organizing Committee of 2009 will be holding its third annual Malaysian Night entitled "Rojak - A Taste of Malaysia". It would occur at 6:30 p.m. at Parents Hall, Olmsted, Drake University and the tickets are going for 10 bucks for Drake students and 12 bucks for non-Drake students (host families, friends, etc.).

This year round we're going with a new scheme and theme, as we've a running skit which ties all the various festivities held in my beloved country, Malaysia. Plus, we've glorious Malaysian food and dances, with a potpourri of culture- and all that for 10 or 12 bucks! You're really going to get your money's worth. I wouldn't want to elaborate more as this would spoil the myriad of surprises which are in store for you.

Something new, different. Look out for that as the organizing committee has really toiled and sweat to ensure that this year's event would be a complete success!

Tickets are out and ready to be sold starting tomorrow until the event date at the Olmsted Breezeway from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Drop by and support us!

Queries? Please don't hesitate to shoot me an e-mail at beckyhiu@gmail.com.

Best Regards,
Becky Hiu
Chairperson of the Malaysian Students' Association (MASA) Night Organizing Committee 2009
Drake University
beckyhiu@gmail.com

First Official Post

Greetings from Drake University's Malaysian Night Committee of 2009!

This is our first official blog post and we would be updating the Drake students, the greater Des Moines community, Malaysians and really, any other citizen of planet Earth with regards to this year's Malaysian Night which details are as follows:

Rojak - A Taste of Malaysia
Venue: Parents Hall, Olmsted Center, Drake University
Date: April 11th, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm to 10:00 p.m.
Ticket price: $10.00

We wish to invite the entire Drake, Des Moines and American community to witness a spectacular year of festivals in Malaysia as our beloved country is comprised of a myriad of different races, and namely the big three ethnic races are the Malays, Chinese and Indians and we want to share our culture with non-Malaysians as Malaysia is truly a wonderful place to be!

This year round, we plan to have a different theme, hence the name "Rojak" which literally means an assortment or fusion of things. We expect 250 to 300 people to show up for this multicultural event this year round.

This year's Malaysian Night committee has been sweating and toiling to ensure that we mark up to last year's event, which was so successful! These are some pictures of what we've been doing so far. More to come!

Paints!

Work in Progress!

Official Banner for Rojak - A Taste of Malaysia

Tickets go on sale next week, commencing the 23rd of March, 2009 and would go on for 2 weeks thereafter. Watch out for more updates coming from us!

Trust us, it's gonna be awesome possum!

Salam Sejahtera,
Rojak Team '09